our chiro (who uses applied kinesiology) said yesterday that ds (29 months) is now reacting to mercury which means that he has some mercury floating around somewhere. He has never reacted to mercury before and either have I (he is nursing). We have been on a program to kill candida in both of us. I have wanted to go slowly with me because I have read that killing candida can mobilize mercury (though I never suspected I had a lot of mercury to begin with). We are doing diet modifications and really good probiotics. I have very, very little sugar and very few grains (same for him). We are gluten free, and free of all of his allergens (dairy, soy, egg, corn, fish, tree nut, chocolate, cumin). I do not have any mercury fillings and have eaten no fish in the past 2 years (he is IgE to fish) and a moderate amount of fish prior to that (but no canned tuna). I don't know where the mercury could be coming from. She suggested we both take cilantro drops to help to "mop up" the mercury. There are some other tablets she suggested but did not have any in the office and I have not made it to the health food store yet. I am very concerned about this and not sure what to do at this point. He has been symptomatic in the past couple of weeks. So much so that I thought there was a new food that we were missing but yesterday she tested him on all the foods I suspected and he was fine with all of them. By symptomatic I mean very, very, itchy skin (especially in the crooks of his elbow, armpits, back of the neck and now inner thighs). He scratches until he bleeds especially at night. Is this related the mercury? What can I do to continue to heal both of us but be safe while doing so? His other symptoms... primarily very infrequent bms are much better (he is pooping now every 4 days which is a HUGE improvement). I really appreciate all of your help. I always learn so much from all of you...

First, hugs - I know mercury sounds scarier than food issues. We had to deal with several metals toxicities in my then 2yo.

Second, under no circumstances would I use cilantro drops for either of you. Cilantro doesn't "mop up" - it mobilizes more mercury, but the problem is it doesn't hold the mercury that well and escort it out of the body. So it moves the mercury around, and then lets go and it just resettles somewhere else in the body. If you take the drops, it can also mobilize more of your mercury into your breastmilk.

It doesn't sound like you have current exposures (fillings, fish), so if you are, it's likely an old exposure that was sequestered in your candida. So for now, I'd stop whatever you're doing to fight yeast for you.

Then maybe take something that truly mops up, like modifilan, or clay (if you pop over and ask in the chat thread, tanya and mtn.mama both have some experience with this).

I'd also want to do a hair test on both of you, to verify that what you are dealing with is really mercury. You want the hair elements test, which you can order yourself from directlabs.com (not the hair toxic elements test). If you post the results when you get them, we can help you figure out if they show mercury issues.

Besides the diet mods and probiotics, are you doing anything else for the yeast? Which probiotics are you using?

thanks for your reply... we had been doing some anti fungals like pau daurco and olive leaf extract but I had stopped this because he always seemed to react more (skin itching) when we were taking these. So really the only things we have been doing regularily recently are the diet modifications and probiotic. We take the HLC High Potency Powder by Pharmax. It is human strain so completely allergen free. It really irritates me about the cilantro. This is why she suggested it... to clear out the mercury. I have been giving it to him and to myself since yesterday. Not to mention the tiny bottle of drops cost $13. Now do I question other recommendations she has made? IO have had such good results with her otherwise as have many friends. I also starting taking again undecyn (this is by thorne) it has some anti fungal and bentonite clay and Betaine HCl. I wonder if this should be stopped too? I will definitely look into the hair test

anyone know if it is likely to get ins to pay for the hair elements test? i have to get two tests i guess, right (one for me and then one for him). how does the test work? you order the test and then do it yourself and take it to a local lab? then you also have lab fees, right? from what i can see on the website this is how it works but i am feeling so overwhelmed that i am having trouble focusing on the info and making sense of anything right now. is there a reliable blood test for mercury? my head is spinning at this point i am so worried about this...

I haven't read the posts, just skimmed but you might also pop over into the Acute Homeopathy thread in Health and Healing main to give a heads up to Panserbjorne in case she's not following the Chat thread over here right now.
In the middle of weekly meal prep stuff so I have to run.

Wife of Michael , SAHM to Aristotle 09/99 Raphael 06/07 and Marius 05/09 Known only in dreams but never forgotten: Euphrates Decluttering 290/2010

Organic, heavy metal tested kelp is another option to help sop up heavy metals.

I don't know much about the hair tests. But, I agree with mamafish, no cilantro. Hold off antifungals.

Many industrial cities have mercury pollution, historically, and their water and soil. Vaccines also. The issue is more how well you detox, than your exposures. Have you had any history of mercury fillings, or your mother?

anyone know if it is likely to get ins to pay for the hair elements test? i have to get two tests i guess, right (one for me and then one for him). how does the test work? you order the test and then do it yourself and take it to a local lab? then you also have lab fees, right? from what i can see on the website this is how it works but i am feeling so overwhelmed that i am having trouble focusing on the info and making sense of anything right now. is there a reliable blood test for mercury? my head is spinning at this point i am so worried about this...

deep breath....

jen

The way the hair test works is you pay for a kit, you (or whoever) cuts the hair (close to the scalp on the back of the head) and then you mail it in. So the only extra cost would be if you want to pay someone to cut the hair.

You can get a fair bit of info by testing ds, and then decide to test yourself if you want more info later. The test is less reliable if you're nursing.

B12 and food folate might make a big difference, mentally, (esp brain fog and anxiety) and the nutrients Pat mentioned can only help.

thanks for the reply... now i feel like i can do something. i do take vit c (about 2500mg) almost every day but will make sure that this is every day now. it is a product called c+ biofizz. it has 2569mg of vit c (ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate and magnesium ascorbate) and quercetin (20mg), hesperidin (20mg) and rutin (10mg). We have only had 1 illness since begining this and it was sooo mild. I literally felt the illness going away just as it started... lasted about 1 day. I really like this product so hope it is ok and not contraindicated for some reason I am unaware of. ds takes mag every day (natural calm) to help with his pooping issues but i haven't been taking it though. this is an easy addition for me. my multi vit has Folates (NatureFolate blend) 400mcg, selenium 200 mcg, and molybdenum 100 mcg. Any feedback on these.... thanks again. I will look at your links later when i have time

thanks for your reply... we had been doing some anti fungals like pau daurco and olive leaf extract but I had stopped this because he always seemed to react more (skin itching) when we were taking these. So really the only things we have been doing regularily recently are the diet modifications and probiotic. We take the HLC High Potency Powder by Pharmax. It is human strain so completely allergen free. It really irritates me about the cilantro. This is why she suggested it... to clear out the mercury. I have been giving it to him and to myself since yesterday. Not to mention the tiny bottle of drops cost $13. Now do I question other recommendations she has made? IO have had such good results with her otherwise as have many friends. I also starting taking again undecyn (this is by thorne) it has some anti fungal and bentonite clay and Betaine HCl. I wonder if this should be stopped too? I will definitely look into the hair test

jen

OLE caused itching for my DS as well - it's very high in phenols. We also had a bad reaction to Pharmax probiotics (l. acidophilus produces d-lactate, which not all people can handle). Oh, and I just looked up the high potency powder - it has FOS in it, which lots of people react badly to. (I really like the Pharmax probiotics, but no probiotic is perfect for everyone). You might try stopping the probiotic for a few days, FOS could definitely be causing the rash. I see they have freeze dried apricot in them too, so he could even be reacting to apricot.

I'm not saying your ND is wrong here about it being mercury - but there are some other possibilities you can rule out while you wait for hair test results. The hair test is very simple, like WhoMe said - you cut some hair off, put it in an envelope, mail it off, and get results online in about a week.

How long have you been doing your C, by the way? Does it correspond at all to your DS' rash? It has lots of bioflavonoids in it, and kids who are sensitive to salicylates/phenols often can't tolerate flavonoids (or FOS, or olive leaf extract - so I'm wondering if these things are related for your son).

when treating for yeast, a skin rash is very common. It is the yeast leaving the body. This site is full of information. Here is her yeast page. http://www.danasview.net/yeast.htm but the server is too busy most of the time to get through. be patient or try at an odd time perhaps. she has pictures of what yeast rash looks like, as well as suggestions on the protocol. I have heard that when using OLE you should up the yeast protocol. Are you using biotin and/ or GSE for the yeast? As for the mercury, the most common ways (that I know of) for exposure are vaccines, fillings and fish. There are many ideas on how to pull it out of the body. I have never heard of cilantro. I looked up a few articles about it, this is what I found (that were not sales sites)

From what i read, it sounds like taking cilantro in conjunction with Chlorella is recommended. the Chlorella escorts it out of the body. Every site mentioned taking chlorella in conjunction. HTH. I also wrote to my gfcf group to ask about heavy metal detox, because most of them have done it for their children and some for themselves.

To begin to save the world, we must first nurture the children. Read "The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost" Me-10.5 yo dd1- ; 5 yo dd2-

it was chlorella that she recommended taking with the cilantro... but i honestly do not feel comfortable doing this right now. i feel like this could wait until he weans... we practice clw so this could be awhile but still could wait.

b12... i take b12 drops 2x daily in addition to what is in my multi vit. since i started taking it i have felt an 11 year fog lift off of me. amazing! i think so much more clearly, have more energy and memory is better...

mamafish....
vit c... i do not think this cooresponds to the rash. i have not been taking it regularily and even missed a few days recently and the itching has remained about the same. funny that you mention the sals or phenols... i have been thinking along these lines too for other reasons. he reacted very strongly to chocolate one time (rash around the mouth). he has also reacted to cumin, tomato sauce, dried fruits.... all of which i have seen on various different lists of food high in sals i believe. he had a very severe reaction to one bite of cashew a few weeks ago. i think i saw that cashew is super high in sals. i suspected the dried apricot in the probiotic and also the FOS but did not want to go there yet because his poop was soo much improved with this probiotic. He went from 1x per week and VERY watery and stinky to every 4 days and hummus consistency... sorry to be so graphic but you get the picture that way! the probiotic is very expensive and i was happy to find something that helped him.... I think i will decrease the dosage and see how that goes. also, i always give him the probiotic at bed time and his scratching is always worse in his sleep. hmmmm... maybe change the time of day of the dose and see if the scratching decreases at night and increases in the day? such a puzzle to find out what is causing the itching.... yeast die off or food/chemical reaction. i know we have all been there... i have to look further into the hair test now...

whome... interesting that you said the hair test results are less reliable if nursing. this makes me want to save the money for later for myself. however, i think it would be valuable to know if i do have a mercury issue especially since i am nursing, kwim? so i wonder if it is a lot less reliable or more likely to give higher or lower numbers or what.... is it still worth it to do it even while nursing?

got some results from my question for you (and me since I know dd1 has mercury that needs to come out, and so do I, in our case I need to get the silver fillings out of her mouth first that were placed when in her father's care)
some used thishttp://home.earthlink.net/~moriam/ANDY_INDEX.html

A woman I respect for her wisdom said BioRay uses chlorella and cilantro and that Dr. Clements from Hippocrates says the best chelator is chlorella.... sounds like the cilantro/chlorella may be cutting edge... all the responders so far said they used ALA or Andy Cutter protocol which I linked above. HTH

To begin to save the world, we must first nurture the children. Read "The Continuum Concept: In Search of Happiness Lost" Me-10.5 yo dd1- ; 5 yo dd2-

If he might be sals sensitive, the FOS is likely to drive him nuts in any quantity. Pharmax makes an Intensive product without FOS, which might be a good option to try.

The hair test doesn't usually show high mercury directly. Mercury affects mineral transport, so you apply some "counting rules" (developed by a guy named Andy Cutler). There are 4 counting rules, and bfing mamas sometimes fail the first counting rule, even when they are not mercury toxic. In other words, sometimes you get a false positive when nursing (tests says you fail a counting rule, even when you are not mercury toxic). However, you're unlikely to get a false negative (the test won't say you're OK if you really have mercury issues). And many mercury toxic people fail more than one of the counting rules. I did a hair test while bfing, and I found it very helpful.

I'm not chelating mercury with mercury in my mouth. The protocols for chelating are for AFTER all mercury is removed from the mouth. The protocols do not address nursing mothers or infants, especially infants with food intolerances, allergies and limited diets resulting in nutrient deficiencies and blocked detox pathways. The goal is to open the detox pathways to excrete toxins safely, not dump excess toxins into circulation.

Skin is a detox pathway. When there is excess circulating mercury, the body sequesters it in candida. Thus the eczema as a detox pathway (candida overgrowth). Skin is not a "healthy" detox pathway, it is an 'overflow' pathway. We don't want excess circulating toxins, we want them to be excreted safely, not just moved around and redeposited.

Killing off candida releases mercury into the blood circulation to redeposit into brain, organs, fetus and breastmilk. The nursing mama doesn't want to dump mercury into her baby. Opening detox pathways to excrete toxins effectively and safely can be done, without *increasing* the mobilization of stored mercury into circulation.

got some results from my question for you (and me since I know dd1 has mercury that needs to come out, and so do I, in our case I need to get the silver fillings out of her mouth first that were placed when in her father's care)
some used thishttp://home.earthlink.net/~moriam/ANDY_INDEX.html

A woman I respect for her wisdom said BioRay uses chlorella and cilantro and that Dr. Clements from Hippocrates says the best chelator is chlorella.... sounds like the cilantro/chlorella may be cutting edge... all the responders so far said they used ALA or Andy Cutter protocol which I linked above. HTH

Andy Cutler (who I don't take as gospel on everything, but I think he has by far and away the safest approach to chelating metals, for kids in particular), is very opposed to cilantro & chlorella use - he believes it does mobilize mercury, but doesn't remove it effectively, creating some awful side effects. Worth researching very carefully before you use it. The links you give above are some of the best places I've found to do that research .

I'm not chelating mercury with mercury in my mouth. The protocols for chelating are for AFTER all mercury is removed from the mouth. The protocols do not address nursing mothers or infants, especially infants with food intolerances, allergies and limited diets resulting in nutrient deficiencies and blocked detox pathways. The goal is to open the detox pathways to excrete toxins safely, not dump excess toxins into circulation.

Skin is a detox pathway. When there is excess circulating mercury, the body sequesters it in candida. Thus the eczema as a detox pathway (candida overgrowth). Skin is not a "healthy" detox pathway, it is an 'overflow' pathway. We don't want excess circulating toxins, we want them to be excreted safely, not just moved around and redeposited.

Killing off candida releases mercury into the blood circulation to redeposit into brain, organs, fetus and breastmilk. The nursing mama doesn't want to dump mercury into her baby. Opening detox pathways to excrete toxins effectively and safely can be done, without *increasing* the mobilization of stored mercury into circulation.

Just a quick touch in.. At work... Thanks so much for all the replies. I switched the probiotic to morning and cut his dose and he slept great last night. I think part of the issue is sals and th fos but we have to finish this probiotic. I need to know how to clean up any current mercury without releasing anymore right now. I willl check links later. We are definitely not doing the cilantro and chlorella right now. Btw I had taken a couple of doses of cilantro on saturday and yesterday and sunday had a monster migraine headache...related at all? Also what vit c does anyone suggest since it appears that the bioflavinoids in mine aren't well tolerated due to sals? Thanks again.

I'm not chelating mercury with mercury in my mouth. The protocols for chelating are for AFTER all mercury is removed from the mouth. The protocols do not address nursing mothers or infants, especially infants with food intolerances, allergies and limited diets resulting in nutrient deficiencies and blocked detox pathways. The goal is to open the detox pathways to excrete toxins safely, not dump excess toxins into circulation.

Skin is a detox pathway. When there is excess circulating mercury, the body sequesters it in candida. Thus the eczema as a detox pathway (candida overgrowth). Skin is not a "healthy" detox pathway, it is an 'overflow' pathway. We don't want excess circulating toxins, we want them to be excreted safely, not just moved around and redeposited.

Killing off candida releases mercury into the blood circulation to redeposit into brain, organs, fetus and breastmilk. The nursing mama doesn't want to dump mercury into her baby. Opening detox pathways to excrete toxins effectively and safely can be done, without *increasing* the mobilization of stored mercury into circulation.

Pat

i have and have nevery had mercury fillings (i have other fillings but not the kind with mercury per my dentist whom i saw yesterday). my mom might though.... i don't eat fish now but did in the distant past so i guess i could have mercury in there somewhere that has been there for a long time. so how do i "open detox pathways to excrete toxins effectively and safely... without increasing the mobilization of stored mercury into circulation"? I really need to sit down and read some links but I am at work and only have a couple of minutes here and there. Where can i specifically find this info??

oh my... i have been reading through the help 101 thread that is linked all the time that i have looked at soo many times and then given up out of confusion and frustration.... lets just say i am not much less confused or frustrated at this point.

what i know now... i do not want to release any more mercury... so i am backing off of the probiotics, skipping the kombucha (which i had been drinking occasionally not realizing the risks ) and skipping all antifungals.

i need to order the hair test

i need to soak up any mercury that is already there so i need to support my liver (?) and ds liver... i just had this all in my head and now i have to refer back to the thread... ahhhhh! i need to get a different vit c without the bioflavinoids that he seems to react to. sorry this is so rambling but i am thinking out loud... i know that we are already taking many of the vit supps that i have seen recommended for this purpose but there was something else i read that was recommended for sopping up the mercury and getting it out of the body... started with an "M" and now i can't find it. oh i am really tired tonight and am going to bed. thanks ladies for your information and patience, i have so much to learn and feel very blessed to have this source of info to guide me through this maze. i can not give up anymore because it is overwhelming to me to try to understand it all...this is way to important

I use modifilan to mop up mercury. It was very helpful for my post-amalgam removal headache and it's helped the kids, both with acute issues (behavior as manifesting feeling bad) after rounds chelating the kids, as well as a daily support.